A Salute to T.J.

We had to say good-bye to T.J. today. I came home last night and found him splayed on the couch and I thought he was dead. It turns out he went into a diabetic coma. I got him down to the Emergency Vet and they stabilized him but we think he had some loss of oxygen to the brain as he was having seizures and temperature spikes and not responding well. It did not look hopeful that he would recover so we had to make the hard decision.

A note from Susan:
T.J. - his full name being Thomas Jerald because when I first got him someone said he looked like the Tom and Jerry cartoon kitty - was an amazing, one-of-a-kind cat. He was definitely our Alpha kitty and I have to admit, my favorite. He was a good hunter and brought several birds, mice and even an earthworm through the cat door in my last house to show off. What a character! He did this unusual movement with his front paws in which he looked like he was waving. I called it the "paw thing". When he was little he would rise up on his haunches and do the "paw thing" whenever he saw something unusual, but when he got older he would mostly do it when sitting on my lap. You can go to the blog post of January 31st, 2011 to see him do it. I will miss you my dear, sweet kitty boy and I will never forget you.

He is missed!